Grace Kelly - Biography - IMDb Grace Kelly Biography Showing all 104 items Jump to: Overview (5) | Mini Bio (2) | Spouse (1) | Trade Mark (2) | Trivia (67) | Personal Quotes (26) | Salary (1) Overview (5) 14 September 1982 , Monaco (injuries from car accident) Birth Name 5' 6½" (1.69 m) Mini Bio (2) Grace Patricia Kelly was born on November 12, 1929 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to wealthy parents. She was the daughter of Margaret Katherine (Majer), a phys ed instructor, and John Brendan Kelly, Sr., a three-time Olympic Gold winner for rowing. Her uncle was playwright George Kelly . She was of half Irish and half German descent. Her girlhood was uneventful for the most part, but one of the things she desired was to become an actress which she had decided on at an early age. After her high school graduation in 1947, Grace struck out on her own, heading to New York's bright lights to try her luck there.

Grace worked as a model and made her debut on Broadway in 1949. She also made a brief foray into the infant medium of television. Not content with the work in New York, Grace moved to Southern California for the more prestigious part of acting -- motion pictures. In 1951, she appeared in her first film entitled Fourteen Hours (1951) when she was 22. It was a small part, but a start nonetheless. The following year, she landed the role of Amy Kane in High Noon (1952), a western starring Gary Cooper and Lloyd Bridges which turned out to be very popular. In 1953, Grace appeared in only one film, but it was another popular one. The film was Mogambo (1953) where Grace played Linda Nordley. The film was a jungle drama in which fellow cast members, Clark Gable and Ava Gardner turned in masterful performances. It was also one of the best films ever released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Although she got noticed with High Noon, her work with director Alfred Hitchcock , which began with Dial M for Murder (1954) made her a star.

Her standout performance in Rear Window (1954) brought her to prominence. As Lisa Fremont, she was cast opposite James Stewart , who played a photographer who witnesses a murder in an apartment across the courtyard while convalescing in a wheelchair. Grace stayed busy in 1954 appearing in five films. Grace would forever be immortalized by winning the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Georgie Elgin opposite Bing Crosby in The Country Girl (1954). In 1955, Grace once again teamed with Hitchcock in To Catch a Thief (1955) co-starring Cary Grant . In 1956, she played Tracy Lord in the musical comedy High Society (1956) which also starred Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby . The whimsical tale ended with her re-marrying her former husband, played by Crosby. The film was well received and also turned out to be her final acting performance. In the summer of 1954, Kelly and Cary Grant were on the French Riviera, working on To Catch a Thief.

It was probably the scene after Grace speeds along the Moyen Corniche to quickly get to the "picnic grounds", and away from a tailing police car, that she had time to look at the Mediterranean and the countryside along the coast. "Whose gardens are those?" she asked screenwriter John Michael Hayes . "Prince Grimaldi's". She would not meet the prince until the following year. In New York in March 1955, she received a call from Rupert Allan, Look Magazine's west coast editor, who had become a friend since writing three cover stories on her. The French government wanted her to attend the Cannes Film Festival that May. She had some good reasons to go. One: The Country Girl (1954) would be shown at the festival. Two: she had really loved working on the Riviera the summer before. She met Prince Rainier of Monaco during the Cannes festival. He needed a wife, because with no heir to the throne, Monaco would again be part of France, after his death, all its citizens would have to pay French taxes. And Kelly thought it was time for her to select a husband, one who would finally meet with her parents' approval.

Her biographers show that the life of a princess was not exactly living happily ever after. Old friends from Philadelphia as well as people she had known in Hollywood reported how glad she was to talk about her life in America and to be speaking English. And then on a cliff road she had known so well since her first visit to the Riviera, there was the fatal crash. The spot is often said to be the same spot where the picnic scene from To Catch a Thief was filmed in 1954. However, Kelly's own son, Prince Albert of Monaco , has categorically denied this on Larry King Live and elsewhere; according to him, the accident did not even happen on the same road, let alone at the same spot. For the rest of her life, she was to remain in the news with her marriage and her three children. On September 14, 1982, Grace was killed in an automobile accident in her adoptive home country, Monaco, at age 52.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Pedro Borges Spouse (1) ( 18 April 1956 - 14 September 1982) (her death) (3 children) Trade Mark (2) Her poised, calm, cool and collected demeanor and blond hair often coiffed in a bun Often cast as the love interest of the leading man who is over 20 years older. Trivia (67) Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#5) (1995). Ranked #51 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997] Hoped to return to acting in Alfred Hitchcock 's Marnie (1964), but the people of Monaco did not want their princess playing a thief and romancing Sean Connery . Had three children with Prince Rainier of Monaco : Princess Caroline of Monaco (1957), Prince Albert of Monaco (1958) and Princess Stéphanie of Monaco (1965). Her movies were banned in Monaco by order of Prince Rainier of Monaco .

The inscription at her burial site in Monaco's cathedral does not refer to her as a princess. It uses the title "uxor principis" (prince's wife), which is traditional in the House of Grimaldi. Following her untimely death, she was interred at the Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Monaco. Assisted in the pre-production status of Grace Kelly (1983) starring Cheryl Ladd as Grace Kelly. Actress Rita Gam was among her bridesmaids. Born at 5:31 AM EST. In 1993, the United States and Monaco simultaneously released a commemorative postage stamp honoring her. However, United States federal law forbids postage stamps depicting foreign heads of state, so the United States stamp listed her as "Grace Kelly", while the Monaco stamp listed her as "Princess Grace". Part of Prince Rainier of Monaco 's attraction to marrying a movie star was to increase tourism in his tiny, cash-poor principality, and the Kelly family was turned off by his demands that a substantial dowry accompany Grace to Monaco.

A figure of $2,000,000 was finally agreed upon, which was diverted from Grace's inheritance so that her brother and two sisters would not be shortchanged. Kelly's wedding gown was the most expensive garment that MGM designer Helen Rose had ever made. It used twenty-five yards of silk taffeta and one hundred yards of silk net. Its 125-year-old rose point lace was purchased from a museum and thousands of tiny pearls were sewn on the veil. Was considered for the role of Maggie the Cat in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) that was eventually played by Elizabeth Taylor . The so-called "wealthy" family Grace was born into was actually an immigrant family of bricklayers who had barely a generation of newfound business success. Grace's father and brother were both Olympic gold-medal scullers. Grace's cousin, former US Secy of Navy John Lehman, Jr. now chairs the Princess Grace Foundation, which supports young performing talent. Attended and graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, New York. The Country Girl (1954), the film that won Kelly an Oscar, was first offered to Jennifer Jones , who had to turn it down due to pregnancy.

When she left Hollywood, several roles she was slated to play were eventually filled by Lauren Bacall ( Designing Woman (1957) and The Cobweb (1955)). Director George Stevens also wanted her for Giant (1956). Niece of playwright George Kelly . Kelly was the daughter of John Brendan Kelly, Sr. (1889-1960), the son of Irish immigrants, and his wife Margaret Katherine (Majer), whose parents were German. She had three siblings: Peggy, John Jr. and Lizzane. On January 1959, the Austrian government awarded her a medal of merit for aid to Hungarian refugees escaping Russian invasion, given through Monaco's Red Cross. She was one of many famous tenants of the Barbizon Hotel for Women when she lived in New York. Other tenants included Candice Bergen , Liza Minnelli , Cloris Leachman , Ali MacGraw , and Edith 'Little Edie' Bouvier Beale . She was voted the 27th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

Referenced in the songs "Grace Kelly", by Die Ärzte; "Grace Kelly Blues" by Eels ( Mark Oliver Everett ),"Grace Kelly with Wings" by Piebald; and "Grace Kelly" by Mika. She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6329 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960. Hedda Hopper reported that Judy Garland 's loss of the Academy Award to Grace for The Country Girl (1954) was the result of the closest Oscar vote up till that time that did not end in a tie, with just six votes separating the two. In any event, it was such a heartbreak from which Judy Garland never recovered from, mentally. Judy Garland was nominated for her role in A Star Is Born (1954) and which has remained a matter of some controversy. Summoned Sydney Guilaroff , the chief hairstylist at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, to style her hair for her marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco in 1956. She was voted the 12th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Premiere magazine.

Was named #13 Actress on The American Film Institute's 50 Greatest Screen Legends The road accident which led to her death was apparently caused by a stroke she suffered while driving. Was romantically involved with fashion designer Oleg Cassini . Is portrayed by Christina Applegate and Cheryl Ladd in Grace Kelly (1983). Is one of the many movie stars mentioned in Madonna 's song "Vogue". Broke off her engagement to Oleg Cassini to marry Prince Rainier of Monaco . Bought a silver frame as a wedding gift to Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1981. While pregnant with Princess Caroline of Monaco , Grace often used her Hermès bag to shield her belly from prying paparazzi. The company nicknamed that purse "the Kelly bag". Her favorite flowers were roses. After her death, Prince Rainier of Monaco opened a public rose garden in Monaco. Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume One, 1981-1985, pages 447-450. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1998. In Italy, a vast number of her films were dubbed by Fiorella Betti .

She was also dubbed by Miranda Bonansea , Dhia Cristiani and Rina Morelli , respectively in High Noon (1952), Dial M for Murder (1954) and To Catch a Thief (1955). Was offered to do a role in 11-time Oscar-nominated The Turning Point (1977). In her youth, her favorite actors were Joseph Cotten and Ingrid Bergman . (April 19, 1956) Her wedding's church ceremony at Monaco's Saint Nicholas Cathedral was exclusively filmed by MGM and made into the documentary The Wedding in Monaco (1956). The 600 guests included David Niven , Gloria Swanson , Ava Gardner and Conrad Hilton . Attended and graduated from Stevens School in Germantown, Philadelphia in 1947. On the day she perished in a car accident, she was allegedly driving a British Rover 3500. Cary Grant named her as his favorite co-star. His friends and family said Kelly's death hit him much harder than the deaths of Louis Mountbatten , Alfred Hitchcock and even Ingrid Bergman .

She and her husband Prince Rainier of Monaco , were at the opening of Expo '58 in Brussels. Grandmother of: Andrea, Charlotte, and Pierre Casiraghi, Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra of Hanover, Louis and Pauline Ducruet, Camille Gottlieb, Jazmin Grace Grimaldi and Alexandre Coste . Was considered for the role of Sarah in Guys and Dolls (1955), however Jean Simmons was cast instead. Was allegedly romantically involved with all of her leading men apart from James Stewart . She was also linked to Marlon Brando , David Niven and Jean-Pierre Aumont . Her father built a beach house at the corner of 26th and Wesley in Ocean City, New Jersey in 1929. It became a popular family vacation destination, and hosted celebrity guests such as Frank Sinatra , Dean Martin , Jerry Lewis , Bob Hope and Bing Crosby . Grace's sister, Lizanne, lived in the house until it was sold in 2001.

All of her leading men were old enough to be her father (with the exception of William Holden , who was 11 years older than her and Louis Jourdan, who was only 8 years older). Former mother-in-law of Stefano Casiraghi (1983-1990) and mother-in-law of Daniel Ducruet (1995-1996). She was also the future mother-in-law of Princess Charlene of Monaco . Was good friends with actress Maureen O'Hara . She and her husband Prince Rainier of Monaco became pregnant twice in 1962; on both occasions she suffered miscarriages. Ranked #86 in Men's Health magazine's 100 Hottest Women of all Time (2011). The very first actress to appear on a postage stamp in 1993. She graduated from Stevens School in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on June 5, 1947; her classmates predicted, in her senior yearbook, that she was certain "to become a stage and screen star".

Her first date, Harper Davis, died in 1953 after contracting multiple sclerosis when he returned from World War II and whose funeral was attended by Grace Kelly. She was a registered Democrat and her family was close friends with Franklin D. Roosevelt during his administration. Was a Girl Scout. Was the 42nd actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Actress Oscar for The Country Girl (1954) at The 27th Annual Academy Awards (1955) on March 30, 1955. She turned down the female lead in On the Waterfront (1954) in order to make Rear Window (1954) instead. Had appeared in three films directed by Alfred Hitchcock : Rear Window (1954), Dial M for Murder (1954) and To Catch a Thief (1955). Grace Kelly passed away on September 14, 1982, two months away from what would have been her 53rd birthday on November 12. Portrayed by Nicole Kidman in the fictionalized and critically ravished Grace of Monaco (2014).

Kidman, however, was nominated for a SAG Award for her performance. It has been alleged that as member of the Twentieth Century Fox board of directors, Kelly was responsible for closing down Russ Meyer 's uncompleted "Who Killed Bambi?". MGM studios offered 70 000 dollars for the weeding of Grace Kelly, in gowns and bonus. Personal Quotes (26) Hollywood amuses me. Holier-than-thou for the public and unholier-than-the-devil in reality. I'll tell you one of the reasons I'm ready to leave. When I first came to Hollywood five years ago, my makeup call was at eight in the morning. On this movie it's been put back to seven-thirty. Every day I see Joan Crawford , who's been in makeup since five, and Loretta Young , who's been there since four in the morning. I'll be god-damned if I'm going to stay in a business where I have to get up earlier and earlier and it takes longer and longer for me to get in front of a camera. I hated Hollywood. It's a town without pity.

I know of no other place in the world where so many people suffer from nervous breakdowns, where there are so many alcoholics, neurotics, and so much unhappiness. Mogambo (1953) had three things that interested me. John Ford , Clark Gable , and a trip to Africa with expenses paid. If Mogambo had been made in Arizona, I wouldn't have done it. At times, I think I actually hate Hollywood. I have many acquaintances there, but few friends. I came to success very quickly. Perhaps too quickly to value its importance. I would like to be remembered as someone who accomplished useful deeds, and who was a kind and loving person. I would like to leave the memory of a human being with a correct attitude and who did her best to help others. My father had a very simple view of life: you don't get anything for nothing. Everything has to be earned, through work, persistence and honesty. My father also had a deep charm, the gift of winning our trust. He was the kind of man with whom many people dream of spending an evening. My real difficulty was to become a normal person again, after having been a movie actress for so long.

For me, at the time I was living in New York and Hollywood, a normal person was someone who made movies. Mr. Hitchcock taught me everything about cinema. It was thanks to him that I understood that murder scenes should be shot like love scenes and love scenes like murder scenes. Of course, I think about marriage, but my career is still the most important thing for me. If I interrupt it now to get married, because I don't believe in a part-time family life, I would risk passing the rest of my existence wondering whether or not I would have been able to become a great actress. My parents, despite their serious attitude toward life in general, and that of their children in particular, were very broadminded people. There was no such thing as a bad profession for them. As I was their daughter, they knew that, whatever profession I chose, I would do it well. That was enough for them. There was always trust among the Kellys. I've always treated my children as beings in their own right. I respect their feelings and aspirations entirely. When I married Prince Rainier, I married the man and not what he represented or what he was. I fell in love with him without giving a thought to anything else.

I would like to say to my future fellow citizens that the Prince, my fiance, has taught me to love them. I already know a lot about them from the way he has described them to me, and my dearest desire today is to find a little place in their hearts. My love of flowers opened a lot of doors for me. I've made many friends because of their passion of flowers and their vast knowledge in this field. Although, I've played a wide variety of roles, I've never had the chance to act in a story written specially for me. It's a pity as they are the only stories that really let you reveal your personality. When Ava Gardner gets in a taxi, the driver knows at once she's Ava Gardner. It's the same for Lana Turner or Elizabeth Taylor , but not for me. I'm never Grace Kelly. I'm always someone who looks like Grace Kelly. Fairy tales tell imaginary stories. Me, I'm a living person. I exist. If the story of my life as a real woman were to be told one day, people would at last discover the real being that I am. If there is one thing that is foreign to me it is shopping for pleasure.

On the other hand, I believe that it is right to honour all those who create beautiful things and give satisfaction to those who see me wearing them. It would be very sad if children had no memories before those of school. What they need most is the love and attention of their mother. I avoid looking back. I prefer good memories to regrets. I'm basically a feminist. I think that women can do anything they decide to do. The studios are tenacious. When they want someone or something, they always get it in the end. I ended up signing a contract with MGM. I signed because they offered me the chance of shooting in Africa, but I signed it at the desk of the airport, when the engines of the plane were already turning. Before my marriage, I didn't think about all the obligations there were awaiting me. My experience has proved useful and I think that I have a natural propensity to feel compassion for people and their problems. (On Gary Cooper ) He's the one who taught me to relax during a scene and let the camera do some of the work. On the stage you have to emote not only for the front rows, but for the balcony too, and I'm afraid I overdid it.

He taught me the camera is always in front row, and how to take it easy... Salary (1) Grace Kelly - Actress and Princess of Monaco Grace Kelly American Film Actress and Princess of Monaco American actress Grace Kelly (circa 1954). (Photo by FPG/Archive Photos/Getty Images) By Shelly Schwartz, Contributing History Writer Updated January 21, 2016. Who Was Grace Kelly? Grace Kelly was a beautiful, classy stage actress who became an Oscar-winning movie star. In five years she starred in 11 motion pictures and, while at the top of her popularity, she left stardom to marry Prince Rainier III of Monaco in 1956. Dates: November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982 Also Known As: Grace Patricia Kelly; Princess Grace of Monaco Growing Up On November 12, 1929, Grace Patricia Kelly was born the daughter of Margaret Katherine (née Majer) and John Brendan Kelly in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Kelly’s father was a successful construction company owner and former triple Olympic gold medalist in rowing.

Her mother had been the first coach of women's athletic teams at the University of Pennsylvania. Kelly’s siblings included an older sister, older brother, and a younger sister. Although the family did not come from “old money,” they were successful in business, athletics, and politics. Grace Kelly grew up in a 17-room brick mansion with plenty of recreational features for active children; plus, she spent summers in her family’s vacation home in Ocean City, Maryland. continue reading below our video 4 Tips for Improving Test Performance Unlike the rest of her athletic family, Kelly was introverted and always seemed to be fighting a cold. She enjoyed making up stories and reading, feeling like a misfit in the sporty household. As a child, Kelly was taught by her mother to never publicly show emotions and her father taught her to strive for perfection. After Ravenhill Academy elementary school, Kelly attended the private Steven's School for young matrons, where, to the astonishment of her parents, she excelled in the school’s drama society. Grace Kelly wanted to continue studying drama in college; thus, she applied to Bennington College in Vermont due to their outstanding drama department. With low scores in math, however, Kelly was turned down.

Her father was against her second choice, which was to audition for the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. Kelly’s mother intervened, telling her husband to let Grace go; she was confident their daughter would be home in a week. Grace Kelly Becomes an Actress In 1947, Grace Kelly was accepted into the American Academy of Dramatic Arts . She took off for New York , lived at the Barbizon Hotel for Women, and earned extra money by modeling for the John Robert Powers modeling agency. With her blonde hair, porcelain complexion, blue-green eyes, and 5’8” perfect poise, Grace Kelly became one of the highest-paid models in New York City at the time. After graduation from the Academy in 1949, Kelly appeared in two plays at the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, Pennsylvania, and then in her first Broadway play, The Father. Kelly received good reviews for her “essence of freshness.” She retained an agent, Edith Van Cleve, and began acting in television dramas in 1950, including the Philco Television Playhouse and the Kraft Theatre. Sol C.

Siegel, a producer at Twentieth Century Fox, had seen Grace Kelly in The Father and was impressed with her performance. Siegel sent director Henry Hathaway to test Kelly for a small part in the motion picture Fourteen Hours (1951). Kelly passed the reading test and joined the Hollywood cast. Her parents, concerned about her safety, sent Kelly’s younger sister to accompany her to the West Coast. The shooting for Kelly’s part, a cool wife seeking a divorce, only took two days; after which she returned back east. Continuing to act in off-Broadway plays in Ann Arbor and Denver in 1951, Kelly received a call from Hollywood producer Stanley Kramer to play the part of a young Quaker wife in the Western film High Noon. Kelly jumped at the chance to work with the experienced leading man, Gary Cooper . High Noon (1952) went on to win four Academy Awards ; however, Grace Kelly was not nominated. Kelly returned to acting on live television dramas and Broadway plays. She took more acting classes in New York with Sanford Meisner to work on her voice.

In the autumn of 1952, Grace Kelly tested for the film Mogambo (1953), enticed by it being filmed in Africa and starring legendary film star Clark Gable . After the test, Kelly was offered the part and a seven-year contract at MGM. The film was nominated for two Oscars: Best Actress for Ava Gardner and Best Supporting Actress for Grace Kelly. Neither actress won, but Kelly won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress. Hitchcock Uncovers Kelly's Warmth By the 1950s, director Alfred Hitchcock had made a name for himself in Hollywood making suspenseful motion pictures that featured very cool blondes as his leading ladies . In June 1953, Kelly got a call to meet Hitchcock. After their meeting, Grace Kelly was cast as the female star in Hitchcock’s next motion picture, Dial M for Murder (1954). To rival television in the 50s, Warner Brothers decided the movie would be shot in 3-D, to Hitchcock’s dismay. The cumbersome camera made routine filming difficult and scenes had to be shot over and over, especially the murder scene in which Kelly’s character turns from victim to victor with a pair of scissors.

Despite Hitchcock’s irritation over the 3-D frustration, Kelly enjoyed working with him. He had a way of exploiting her cool exterior while unearthing her warm passionate interior. When filming for Dial M for Murder finished, Kelly returned to New York. Soon she was offered two screenplays and had to make up her mind which movie to star in. On the Waterfront (1954) was to be filmed in New York, where Kelly could continue dating her boyfriend, the famous clothing designer Oleg Cassini. The other was another Hitchcock picture, Rear Window (1954), to be filmed in Hollywood. Feeling that she better understood the fashion model character in Rear Window, Kelly opted to go back to Hollywood and work with Hitchcock. Kelly Wins Academy Award and Meets a Prince In 1954, Grace Kelly was handed the script for The Country Girl, a role that was completely different from anything she had played before, that of the wearied wife of an alcoholic. She wanted the part badly, but MGM wanted her to star in Green Fire, a film she felt was full of clichés. Kelly never found enchantment or contentment in Hollywood and wrestled with MGM with firm resolve, threatening to retire.

The studio and Kelly compromised and she starred in both movies. Green Fire (1954) was a box-office failure. The Country Girl (1954) was a box-office success and Grace Kelly won the Academy Award for Best Actress. While Grace Kelly turned down multiple motion picture offers, to the studio’s displeasure, audiences revered her everywhere. One film she did not turn down was Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief (1955), filmed on the French Riviera with Cary Grant . Kelly’s boyfriend, Oleg Cassini, followed her to France and when the film finished, she introduced him to her family. They did not hide their disdain for him. He was divorced twice and seemed to be interested in more women than just their daughter, which was true, and the romance ended several months later. In spring 1955, while at the Cannes Film Festiva l , Grace Kelly was asked to appear in a photo session at the Palace of Monaco with Prince Rainier III. She obliged and met the prince. They chatted lightly while photos were taken. The photos sold magazines worldwide.

After being a bridesmaid in her younger sister’s wedding during the summer of 1955, Kelly wanted marriage and a family of her own all the more. Prince Rainier, who was actively seeking a wife, began corresponding with her, finding out that they had a lot in common; they were both uncomfortable celebrities, devout Catholics, and desired a family. Grace Kelly Exits Stardom and Enters Royalty Prince Rainier arrived in the States to woo his future princess during the holidays of 1955 before asking Grace Kelly for her hand in marriage. Kelly’s family was very proud and the official proclamation of the couple’s engagement was made in January 1956, which became front-page international news. To finish her contract, Kelly starred in two final movies: The Swan (1956) and High Society (1956). She then left stardom behind to become a princess.

(No one was more melancholy about her leaving Hollywood than Hitchcock for he had her in mind as his leading lady for several more of his movies -- if not all of them.) The royal wedding of 26-year-old Miss Grace Patricia Kelly to 32-year-old His Serene Highness Prince Rainier III of Monaco was held in Monaco on April 19, 1956. Then began Kelly’s most challenging role of all, fitting into a foreign country while feeling like an unwelcome visitor. She had left the States, her family, friends, and her acting career behind to enter the unknown. She became homesick. Sensing his wife’s unease, the prince began to ask her opinions and include her in state projects, which seemed to improve Kelly’s outlook as well as Monaco’s tourism. Kelly surrendered her former acting desires, settled into life in Monaco, and revitalized the principality as a center for opera, ballet, concerts, plays, flower festivals, and cultural conferences. She also opened the palace for guided tours during the summer when she and the prince were away at their summer home, Roc-Agel in France.

The Prince and Princess of Monaco had three children: Princess Caroline, born 1957; Prince Albert, born in 1958; and Princess Stéphanie, born in 1965. In addition to motherhood, Princess Grace, as she was known, supervised the renovation of a crumbling medical facility into a first-rate hospital and founded the Princess Grace Foundation in 1964 to help those with special needs. Princess Grace of Monaco became loved and cherished by the people of her adopted homeland. Death of the Princess Princess Grace began suffering from severe headaches and abnormally high blood pressure in 1982. On September 13th of that year, Grace and 17-year-old Stéphanie were returning to Monaco from their country home, Roc-Agel, when Grace, who was driving, blacked out for a second. When she came to, she accidentally pressed her foot on the accelerator instead of the brake, driving the car over an embankment. As the women were pulled from the wreckage, it was discovered that Stéphanie had sustained minor injuries (a hairline cervical fracture), but Princess Grace was unresponsive. She was placed on mechanical life support at the hospital in Monaco.

Doctors concluded that she had suffered a massive stroke, which had caused irreversible brain damage. The day following the accident, Princess Grace’s family made the decision to remove her from the artificial devices that were keeping her heart and lungs going. Grace Kelly died on September 14, 1982, at the age of 52. Grace Kelly & Prince Rainier III Grace Kelly & Prince Rainier III Email In the spring of 1955, Grace Kelly was in the South of France, attending the Cannes Film Festival and renewing an old affair with the actor Jean-Pierre Aumont. At lunch with him one afternoon, she mentioned her plan to skip a photo shoot the next day with the Prince of Monaco. It conflicted with her appointment to have her hair done. Aumont was aghast. “Grace,” he insisted, “you can’t possibly do that! He’s a reigning prince.” There wasn’t much she couldn’t do that year. She was 25, an Oscar-winning actress and a world-renowned beauty. In a short time she had gone from being a Philadelphia debutante to a film star.

Alfred Hitchcock had saluted her enchantments that year in To Catch a Thief, and during her long onscreen kiss with Cary Grant, fireworks break out behind them. To sum up the world’s opinion of Grace Kelly, nothing short of fireworks would do. Prince Rainier of Monaco headed the House of Grimaldi, Europe’s longest-ruling princely family (established 1297). Though his domain was just 370 acres—smaller than the back lot at Kelly’s studio, MGM—it had space enough for his 200-room pink palace and his private zoo. And room as well for the lightly faded Monte-Carlo Casino, which still pumped out sufficient revenue so that none of his 20,000 subjects paid any personal income tax. But under the terms of an old treaty, if Rainier died without an heir, they would all become citizens and taxpayers of France. After a lengthy live-in affair with the French actress Giséle Pascal, Rainier, at 31, was searching for a suitable bride. Clearly, looks were a priority.

En route once to the U.S., he described to reporters his ideal woman: “I see her with long hair floating in the wind, the color of autumn leaves. Her eyes are blue or violet, with flecks of gold.” Despite her initial indifference, golden-haired, blue-eyed Kelly’s first meeting with Rainier went well. “I think he’s very charming,” she told Aumont. After returning to the States, she and the Prince began a correspondence that was avidly pushed along by Father Francis Tucker, the American priest who was Rainier’s closest aide and chief talent scout for eligible Catholic girls. Kelly had already been through Clark Gable, Ray Milland and William Holden, as well as the Shah of Iran and the fashion designer Oleg Cassini, whom she had come close to marrying. Her taste horrified her father, Jack, an Irish-American bricklayer turned millionaire builder. Her younger brother once complained, “I don’t generally approve of these oddballs. I wish she would go out with the more athletic type.” But by the time they met, it may have required nothing less than a prince to equal Kelly’s celebrity. “I don’t want to be married to someone who feels belittled by my success,” she once said.

“I couldn’t bear walking into a restaurant and hearing the maitre d’ refer to my husband as Mr. Kelly.” From his side of the Atlantic, Rainier saw in Kelly a woman who might bring not only heirs, but a touch of glamor to revive his entire domain. “Their relationship was both rational and passionate,” says Rita Gam, a Kelly bridesmaid who remained one of her closest friends. “I love his eyes,” Kelly gushed. “I could look into them for hours.” When Rainier gave her an immense diamond engagement ring, she flaunted it on camera in her last Hollywood film, High Society. Their wedding week in April 1956 brought them even closer. In the words of one of her biographers, Robert Lacey, it became “the first modern event to generate media overkill.” Monaco swarmed with reporters who would have been even more excited if they had known how worried Kelly was about the medical examination demanded by the Grimaldis to determine whether she could bear children—because it would also show that she was not a virgin.

(As it turned out, the matter was discreetly passed over.) Though the guests did not include a single representative from any of the royal houses of Europe, which were inclined to see the Grimaldis as quarrelsome minor aristocracy, the wedding did bring out Ava Gardner, the writer W. Somerset Maugham and Aristotle Onassis. Rainier’s mother came in the company of a former jewel thief, which caused some suspicion among the several guests whose jewels were stolen throughout the week. Princess Caroline arrived just nine months and five days after the ceremony. Albert and Stephanie would follow. Grace brought an unaccustomed American informality to the royal family. “The nursery doors were open, and the children were very much a part of the fabric of the day,” says Rita Gam. But the constraints of palace life were not always easy for Grace. In 1962 photographer Eve Arnold came to Monaco to work on a CBS documentary. “I got the distinct feeling that Grace Kelly felt trapped,” she says. “It wasn’t the fairy tale one had expected.” To fill her time, Grace devoted herself to charities and cultural affairs, the allowable occupations of crowned heads. But her husband was against her growing wish to resume acting.

When Hitchcock offered her the lead in his 1964 film Marnie, the public furor in Monaco was such that Rainier put his foot down. The part went to Tippi Hedren. “They were living in a gilded cage,” says her onetime fiancé Cassini. “She wanted to be respected as an actress.” By the late 1970s, Grace was spending part of each year on her own in Paris. She began to enjoy the company of younger men like Robert Dornhelm, an Austrian film director. Even as her hell-raising daughters consumed more of her time, her marriage occupied less of it. Then came the brutal end. Kelly once told the gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, “I hate to drive a car…I am not a good driver.” On Sept. 13, 1982, she and Stephanie, then 17, were returning from France along the mountain roads approaching Monaco. On a hairpin curve the Princess lost control of the car (doctors would later suspect a mild stroke at the wheel). Her Rover plunged down a 45-foot embankment, landing on its roof. She died the next day without ever regaining consciousness.

The media that had descended upon Monaco for the wedding returned for the funeral. And the royalty that had snubbed the happier occasion came this time, a recognition of the dignity that Kelly had given her role. His wife’s sudden death also brought home to Rainier what he had lost. Growing old in a principality where her picture is still to be seen everywhere, the Prince, by most accounts, has been sincere in his grief. One of Kelly’s favorite quotations was from the poet Kahlil Gibran: “When love beckons to you, follow him, though his voice may shatter your dreams….” In their different ways, it was a line that Grace and Rainier would come equally to understand. Show Full Article Grace Kelly | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos | AllMovie twitter Biography by Jason Ankeny Both literally and metaphorically, Grace Kelly was the cinema's fairy-tale princess; beautiful, elegant, and impossibly glamorous, she transcended the limits of Hollywood aristocracy to attain the power and glory of true royalty. Born November 12, 1929, in Philadelphia, PA, her father was a wealthy industrialist while her mother was a onetime cover girl.

Her uncle, George Kelly, was the Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatist behind the plays The Show-Off and Craig's Wife. At the age of ten, she made her own theatrical debut in a Philadelphia-area production, and in her late teens she moved to New York, where she worked as a model while attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. After turning down a Hollywood contract for fear of being typecast as a starlet, Kelly began to work in television, and in 1949 she made her Broadway debut in a revival of August Strindberg 's The Father. When Hollywood again came calling, she accepted and was soon cast in a bit part in 1951's Fourteen Hours. In just her second screen appearance, Kelly co-starred in a certifiable classic, the 1952 Western High Noon. Curiously, however, she did not benefit from the film's success, and no other offers were immediately forthcoming. She agreed to a screen test for a role in Taxi! but was rejected in favor of Constance Smith . However, the screen test found its way to director John Ford , who tapped her for 1953's Mogambo.

The result was a seven-year contract with MGM, as well as a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination. Alfred Hitchcock then enlisted Kelly's services for a pair of 1954 films, Dial M for Murder and the brilliant Rear Window ; it was said that she was the perfect blonde the master director had been seeking throughout his career. She was now a major star, and when actress Jennifer Jones became unexpectedly pregnant, Paramount begged MGM to allow Kelly to take her place in 1954's The Country Girl. The studio initially refused, but she successfully battled for the role. The result was a Best Actress Oscar. After starring in MGM's Green Fire, Kelly teamed with Hitchcock for the third and final time on 1955's To Catch a Thief. While filming on the French Riviera, she met Prince Rainier III of Monaco, and the two began a romance which was soon making international headlines. After starring in 1956's High Society, a musical update of The Philadelphia Story, and a remake of the onetime Lillian Gish vehicle The Swan, Kelly announced her pending marriage to Rainier. She also announced her retirement from filmmaking to devote her full energies to her new duties as Princess of Monaco.

A lavish wedding soon followed, and although it was announced in 1962 that she was to return to Hollywood to star in Hitchcock's Marnie, she later withdrew from the project and never acted again. Grace Kelly died September 14, 1982, in an auto accident after suffering a heart attack while driving. Movie Highlights Father was a wealthy industrialist and uncle was a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright. Made her Broadway debut in 1949's The Father. Made her film debut at age 22 in 1951's Fourteen Hours. Appeared in three movies directed by Alfred Hitchcock, including To Catch a Thief (1955) in Monaco, where she met her future husband, Prince Rainier. After her royal wedding in 1956, she retired from acting and her husband banned her films from being shown in Monaco. Served on the board of Twentieth Century Fox from 1976 to '81. Was the subject of the exhibition "Grace Kelly: From Movie Star to Princess" at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.

Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier marry - Apr 18, 1956 - HISTORY.com Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier marry Share this: Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier marry Author Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier marry URL Publisher A+E Networks American actress Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier of Monaco in a spectacular ceremony on this day in 1956. Kelly, the daughter of a former model and a wealthy industrialist, began acting as a child. After high school, she attended the American Academy for Dramatic Arts in New York. While she auditioned for Broadway plays, she supported herself by modeling and appearing in TV commercials. In 1949, Kelly debuted on Broadway in The Father by August Strindberg. Two years later, she landed her first Hollywood bit part, in Fourteen Hours. Her big break came in 1952, when she starred as Gary Cooper’s wife in High Noon. Her performance in The Country Girl, as the long-suffering wife of an alcoholic songwriter played by Bing Crosby, won her an Oscar in 1954. The same year, she played opposite Jimmy Stewart in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window.

While filming another Hitchcock movie, To Catch a Thief (1955), in the French Riviera, Kelly met Prince Rainier of Monaco. It wasn’t love at first sight for Kelly, but the prince initiated a long correspondence, which led to their marriage in 1956. Afterward, she became Princess Grace of Monaco and retired from acting. She had three children and occasionally narrated documentaries. Kelly died tragically at the age of 52 when her car plunged off a mountain road by the Cote D’Azur in September 1982. Related Videos

Question: Grace Kelly met Prince Rainier whilst filming which movie in Monaco?
Answer: To Catch a Thief